Main street is starting to take on the appearance of a ghost town.
The recent announcement of a quitting business sale at Keremeos Variety has resonated through the Keremeos downtown business section, already feeling the effects of recessionary times, a slow tourist summer, and cross border shopping practices.
The prospect of yet another vacant building in the village’s main commercial block provides locals with yet another reason to take their business elsewhere – as the selection of merchandise available in town declines, consumers think outside the community more and more.
Several business owners have, in recent weeks, begun talking about what changes they would like to see in order to make it easier for business to locate and operate in Keremeos.
“We pay way too much taxes for our small tax base,we get very little if anything, but grief if we try and improve or bring new business in. Existing businesses are closing,and those of us wanting to sell cannot, because of way too many restrictive bylaws,which scare prospective buyers away,” commented Karl Schorb of the recently relocated Branding Iron Bar and Grill.
He cited inflexible parking bylaws as the main reason for a prospective business to back out of a deal to acquire Keremeos Variety recently, and he wonders why the village can’t be more flexible in times like these, when parking isn’t an issue currently in the downtown core.
Across the street, at Canadian Chopper Daryl Letkeman and Sandy Taylor were upset when they received a 25 per cent increase in their municipal tax bill this year.
“We’re assessed on three lots,” Sandy said, “but there is only one business here.”
Taylor was also displeased at last year’s council decision to allow $250 of taxpayers money to be spent on a farewell gift for parting CAO Joni Heinrich.
“Losing Keremeos Variety is a big blow,” Taylor said, “it has been such a stable buisness on Seventh Avenue for such a long time.
The village needs something besides fruit stands to stop tourists. Our restaurants are good – that’s not an issue.”
Taylor said she would be interested in discussing a theme for downtown.
Next door at Napa Auto Parts, owner Aaron Beauchamp indicated that local bylaws did not seem to be affecting his business negatively.
“Losing Keremeos Variety is a big loss for the downtown,” Beauchamp admitted. He felt that in order to be successful in business in Keremeos, one needed to have cash in hand, and provide goods and services not already available.
“You can’t survive duplicating existing business,” he stated, “and you can’t afford to carry big debt.”
Beauchamp felt that a business that provided family needs would be successful.
“There needs to be cooperation amongst existing businesses to ensure that we don’t all carry the same thing,” he said, adding his observation that the “downtown hasn’t really changed that much in 30 years.”
Off the main street, Jake MacDonald of Keremeos Building Supplies sees a move to disincorporate as a step backwards.
“I’d sell and move on,” he said, should the village deliberately drop its status.
“Do they think that local politics is the reason the Variety Store shut down?” he asked.
“People spend their working lives building a business that nowadays no one can afford to buy out – no one has the money to come in and continue, so shutting down is the only option when you are ready to retire.”
MacDonald agrees that village business taxes are higher than they should be, and while he feels local government doesn’t necessarily work to discourage business,they don’t actively encourage it, either.
“Our taxes are high compared to the services we get,” MacDonald continued, “I see main street as having a different situation than me – tax incentives to make main street viable, even if I don’t get anything – to me, the downtown area has to be viable – keep the plywood off the windows and put something in the stores.”
Shannon Forner of Valu Plus Foods also worries about the imminent closure of the Variety Store and its implications on business activity in Keremeos.
“Do I have concerns? Yes, big ones,” she said.
“Do I have answers? No.”
Forner notes that most of Main Street business is made up of renters, so tax incentives may not help. She sees an issue with older businesses that close, because any new business starting up may be subject to a number of new bylaws that didn’t apply to the previous business – an example being the number of parking spaces now required by downtown businesses, who pay a fee in lieu of not being able to provide enough.
“Business taxes are high – ridiculously high,” she said, echoing a theme amongst downtown business owners.
“My residential assessment went down this year, but business taxes went way up. How does that figure?” she added.
“I think council needs to address bylaws if business is being stifled because of them,” Forner said.
“When we lose a business like the Variety Store, and residents can’t even get clothing in town, it just provides another reason to go somewhere else – and do all of their shopping there,” she said.
Forner also recognizes the difficulty prospective business people have in acquiring bank loans.
“It’s very difficult to set up a business these days,” she said, “Banks are very close minded about lending money to start a business in Keremeos.”
